CAT FLAP by Alan S. Cowell
When she awoke as a cat, Dolores Tremayne saw no immediate advantage in having four paws instead of two arms and two legs… A brilliant, funny novel of love, marriage, and modern life. “The novel is literate in the best sense of the term, with Cowell’s wearing his intelligence and sense of humor lightly, mixing in references to high culture (Proust, Kierkegaard) and popular culture (the Disney movie The Aristocats) to great effect. Recommended for fans of literary humor and anyone who loves cats.” — Library Journal

NEW POETS OF NATIVE NATIONS, edited by Heid E. Erdrich
Rather than anthologize contemporary and emerging authors alongside classic or familiar ones, Erdrich introduces readers to 21 Native poets whose writing was first published after 2000. It’s a simple, powerful framing and all that is needed to introduce readers to a group of writers whose breadth and diversity of styles represent some of the best of contemporary poetry today. —Alex Green, New England correspondent

BABY TEETH by Zoje Stage
Stage’s debut novel is a deviously fun domestic horror story that takes child-rearing anxiety to demented new heights. Frustrated stay-at-home mom Suzette attempts to pacify her seven-year-old daughter Hanna, who adores her father but distrusts Suzette, has dangerous tantrums, and only speaks in the voice of a 17th-century girl who was burned at the stake. As Suzette tries to connect with Hanna, Hanna plots ways to “step up her game against Mommy.”

BROTHER by David Chariandy
Set during the summer of 1991 in the Park, a housing complex in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Chariandy’s powerful and incendiary novel tracks the coming of age of two mixed-heritage brothers. Sensitive Michael fumbles through his first relationship while volatile Francis becomes obsessed with the burgeoning hip-hop scene. Chariandy imbues his resilient characters with strength and hope.

KUDOS by Rachel Cusk
Cusk’s final book in a trilogy (after OUTLINE and TRANSIT) expertly concludes the story of protagonist British author Faye. Like its predecessors, the novel eschews chronicling Faye’s life via traditional narrative, instead filling each page with conversations with and monologues by the many writers, journalists, and publicists she meets during her travels. As always, Cusk’s ear for dialogue and language is stunning. The author ends Faye’s trilogy with yet another gem.

CAGED by Ellison Cooper
In her debut thriller, Cooper, an anthropologist who has worked as a murder investigator in Washington, D.C., channels “equal parts Kathy Reichs and Thomas Harris” (according to Lisa Gardner). In the basement of a D.C. house, a woman is found dead in a cage—left to slowly starve to death in a cold and calculating experiment with no clear motive. readmoreremove